Research Department

Goals of the Research Department

The isolation of aptitudes and the study of their role in various occupations.

The development of accurate measures of aptitudes.

The investigation of the role of aptitudes in education.

The evaluation of age and sex differences and the effect of practice on test performance.

The study of the processes involved in the acquisition of knowledge.

The development of accurate measures of knowledge.

The communication of research findings to the public.

Staff

Russell E. Burke, Chair, Research Director

Russell E. Burke began working for the Foundation in New Orleans in 1983, and has directed the Houston and Washington, D.C., offices. His relationship with the Research Department began in 1985, and in 2010 he was named Research Director.

in August 1984. He has a B. S. from the University of Illinois and an M. S. from Colorado State University, as well as an M. A. and Ph. D. in personality psychology from The Johns Hopkins University.

Linda Houser-Marko, Senior Researcher

Linda Houser-Marko joined the Research Department in October 2010. She has a B. A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, and a Ph. D. in social and personality psychology from the University of Missouri. She has published research on the self, identity, and motivation. At the Foundation, she is working on test development, validation, and follow-up studies.

Ashley D. Brown, Researcher

Ashley D. Brown joined the Research Department in September 2018. She earned her B.S. in psychology from the University of Kentucky and her PhD in personality and health psychology from Northwestern University. She has conducted, presented, and published research on psychometric methods and on individual differences in personality and ability. At the Foundation, Ashley is interested in working on test validation and on studying the relationships among aptitudes and personality factors.